Yo Bear and Clifford: Yo's new best friend

Here is Yohimbe taking a snooze with a stuffed animal. Yo likes to grab something in his mouth and greet people at the door whenever they are gone for any length of time. Then he brings it into his lair. . .

Brandi's Puppy

Another puppy went to its new home today. Brandi and family came and picked up a male we called "music" because of a white spot on his chest that looked like a musical note. It turns out Brandi's last dog, Oreo, came from the same litter that Lucy came from! Lucy is a real Island dog, born and raised here! Wow, what a co-incidence . . . Good Luck Brandi and have fun with your new addition!

Puppies are 7 weeks old! Playing in the yard . . .

Puppies doing what they love! Marina helping Lucy eat some dog food. Ten puppies acn nurse at a time, and that is exactly how many we have right now.
Look at these puppies nursing, good job Lucy! The milk will help them grow and stay healthy long after they are weaned.
Even baby Stella (5 1/2 months old) gets some puppy time. I had to ward off over excited puppies, but they all enjoyed themselves and are quite at ease around children/babies and adults.
We have been taking the puppies out into the big grassy yard and playing with them: running, petting, taking pictures, and getting to know them. Marina likes to run and have about five puppies following her, full speed. These dogs love human contact and gladly follow me around the yard and into the house!

The puppies have been sleeping under the dog house instead of in it! Here is one peeking out where she and her siblings made a peek-a-boo hole. It looks pretty cozy under there. So much for the spacious house! These pups are innovative . . .

Puppies Going to New Homes: Whidbey and Rocket Find a Family

I am so pleased to announce that we are off to a great beginning of the end with our first 2 puppies going to their new home this last weekend. A lucky girl and boy pup left with Jake and Jim on Saturday, expanding their family to three dogs! Their names are Whidbey and Rocket. The puppies have adjusted beautifully and you can check them out at http://jakeandjim.blogspot.com
Congratulations and may you have many more blessings!

Oh, how you've grown! Puppies ready for their new homes . . .

Looking back at pictures and the puppies themselves, it's amazing to see how quickly the puppies grow up. Now they're ready to leave their mom: it's time for the puppies to go to their new homes. As of today, we have 5 puppies with definite homes and another 7 to go. We have about 4 people who have shown interest and have not yet committed to a puppy. So here are some pictures to remember the journey, before the puppies begin on their new one at their new homes:

Above is a picture taken the night of the birth, May 7th.

There are just 2 babies born at the time of this picture

Here Lucy has 5 babies . . .Look at the puppies scrunched faces in the picture above, a day or so after the births. They really grew into their faces. Funny to look at these pictures; at the time I had to ask Luc if he thought that the puppies faces would change (get cuter!). They sure did!!The puppies did this formation (above) all on their own,
as well as many other funny positions not captured on camera.

Marina and the puppies in their whelping box, before they went outside. I think their eyes are still closed in this picture.

Happy Father's day Yo Bear!

Father's Day for Daddy Doggie

Although he does not think too much
of being a father
he is one
and so let's celebrate
this big hound
on father's day:

Oh, you lazy dog
the lady does all the work
what do you do?
You lounge about
and sniff the air
you bat your tail
or is your tail a bat?

Oh, you lazy dog
you are a dad now
you think those little ones
are so strange
you big dog
how can you be scared
of such cute puppies?
They are yours, you know!

Candid Canines Continued: More Pictures by Eric Soroos

The Candid Canines: Thanks Eric!

Our friends Eric and Rose and their two boys came over yesterday. Eric is a photographer and he took these amazing pictures.

Puppy Food, A New Home, and Razor Claws

We have been feeding the puppies a mixture of soaked and pureed dog food, fresh eggs, and milk. For the first few weeks (beginning at 3 1/2 weeks old) we fed them soaked and pureed dog food. Now it is just soaked, which is much easier! The puppies squeal in excitement when their food comes. They also do this when their mom, Lucy, comes in and she is soon covered in puppies.

Here are the puppies (above) in their new straw-filled outdoor home. Much bigger than their whelping box and a lot of fun to visit them in. With 12 puppies, you need an easy to clean environment.

Here are those razor claws (above). I am due to cut their claws, this is first on my puppy-to-do list! We have had a lot of wonderful people interested in the puppies and many new homes for them. There are still more puppies left, mostly females. The puppies will stay here at the farm for about one more month (4 weeks). Then they will be off on new adventures with great new owners. Above is a new puppy owner holding his little one.


Here's the puppies' new home. It is made of recycled wood and it even has windows, at my insistence. Luc made it over a weekend and we put off finishing our own bedroom addition to make it for the growing puppies. Isn't he talented? It is about 6 feet tall in the front and slopes in the back to 4 feet or so. It's nice and cozy in the inside, with shelves. The door, pictured on the left, has a big black flap with "NAPA" written on it. It is a mud flap from a 10 ton dump truck or bigger. It is the doggie door, and Lucy pushes in and out of it as she needs to. The heavy rubber keeps the heat in and the cold out. Although it is June, it is still in the low 50's F. The windows with the blue wood are from a play house that was mine when I was a small child. My now 95 year old grandfather made it 20+ years ago. It is nice to be using it for a new generation :) There is a front porch that we keep extra straw on and that Lucy can hang out away from her puppies and still under the eaves.
See that bowl on the front porch? Serve that mama Lucy up! She needs 3 meals a day to keep up with her chubster brood (my new word to describe the indescribably cute and chubby pups). They are at a super-cute stage with round bellies and soft sweet eyes. Their teeth have come in in less than 2 weeks and they seem to be growing at an incredible pace.

Hope to see you all at the farm soon! Spread the word. . .